Photo spot in A Coruña & the Costa da Morte
The sanctuary at Muxía
A small stone church standing alone on flat sea-washed rock, with the Atlantic breaking a few metres from its walls.
About The sanctuary at Muxía
Get directionsThe Virxe da Barca sanctuary sits at the end of a point on bare granite slabs, with no village around it and nothing between the west wall and the ocean. Legend puts a stone boat here; geology puts enormous smooth boulders, one of which rocks when pushed, and the combination of low church and huge rock is what makes the place photograph unlike anywhere else on this coast.
Lightning burnt the church down on Christmas Day 2013 and it was rebuilt within two years, so the stone is a mix of old and new and the interior is plain. The building is the anchor of the frame rather than the subject: the strongest shots put it small against the rock and the water.
Behind it, a stepped path climbs the Monte Corpiño to a viewpoint and a large stone monument, from where the whole point, the church and the bay read in one wide frame. It is ten minutes up.
Swell here is serious and the rocks nearest the water are wet, slippery and occasionally swept — keep well back from the edge on a big sea. The site is open and free at any hour, the wind rarely stops, and the drive from Fisterra along the coast takes about forty minutes.
Best time to shoot
Late afternoon into sunset, when the granite warms and the swell backlights
Tips
The rocks by the water are slippery and can be swept by a big swell — keep back from the edge. The Monte Corpiño viewpoint is ten minutes of steps behind the church.
Other spots in A Coruña & the Costa da Morte
The Tower of Hercules
The oldest working lighthouse in the world, standing alone on a bare headland of grass, granite and Atlantic sky.
The galerías of the Avenida da Mariña
A long white wall of glazed wooden balconies facing the harbour, stacked four storeys high above a stone arcade.
Cabo Fisterra
The granite cape where the Camino ends, with a lighthouse on the point and the Atlantic filling everything west of it.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The sanctuary at Muxía — free of charge.